Conventional copper telecommunications infrastructures exist in most countries to provide public telephony services. In addition to communications services provided by the copper infrastructure, a small power source is provided over the copper network to telephony equipment.
Additional networks may be deployed over more recently developed media types such as fiber optics, wireless networks, and satellite communications. These new media networks typically terminate at or near the end user's location. The media service provider can use a demarcation device that signifies the edge of the service provider's management domain. The demarcation device may be a simple device, but it can also be an important networking tool because it is often the last device that can be controlled or monitored by the service provider.
Remote management and/or device failures usually result in the dispatchment of a technician to manually service a remote device. These repair procedures can be costly and time consuming. Demarcation devices may be the most numerous element in a communications network system, and reliable management and monitoring of the devices may decrease the cost to the service provider and increase the reliability of service to the end user.
Currently, demarcation devices may be managed and monitored through the same communications channels as the communications services that are being provided. That is, the management and monitoring data is communicated to remote monitoring stations via the same physical link as the communication services. As a result, the management and monitoring abilities may be limited by the reliability of the communications services and the network through which the services are provided. In addition, the management of a remote device may be intricately tied to a local power source at the remote device, and the device typically cannot be monitored or diagnosed if local power to the device is interrupted. Furthermore, the service provider may not be able to differentiate transient power source failures from a network failure or from a device failure because in each case, the remote device is likely to be unreachable. However, the action required to repair each type of failure may be different, and the service provider may not be able to easily determine the most likely cause of the failure.
For example, referring to FIG. 1, a typical prior art communications network includes remote devices 13 that are connected to the communications infrastructure 15 by connections 19. The remote devices 13 can be demarcation devices at or near an end user and are powered by a local power supply such as a battery. The communications infrastructure 15 can be an infrastructure for various media types such as fiber optics, wireless networks, and satellite communications. Management stations 11 monitor the remote devices 13, and can be physically removed from the remote devices 13.
The communications infrastructure 15 may overlap with a powered copper network 17 if the communications infrastructure 15 includes copper communications. The powered copper network 17 can be a plain old telephone system (POTS).
Communications services are provided by the communications infrastructure 15 via the connections 19 to the remote devices 13. Management and monitoring data also flow through the same communications infrastructure 15 via connections 19 to the remote devices 13. As discussed above, the monitoring functions of the management stations 11 are only as reliable as the communications infrastructure 15 and connections 19.